Thanks for the info Scott ..... we drove through the hills today in
search of a hiking trail and the Vdub ran great and sounded fine, I
guess my imagination was playing games with me ...  Milage is 106,000
and I had the ATF changed 2 years ago, about 2000 miles ..... but the
fluid was brown which I sure don't understand, I thought it was
something for VWs .... the leaks started a very long time ago, maybe a
spot or 2 on the driveway but the yuck after a very long drive, say
200 miles was obvious and I just wanted to clean the tranny and
address the leaks.

When I say how the trans oil was cooled in the stock VW heat exchanger
I agreed with the mechanic to remove it and add the external cooler .
So far so good  ... .Generally I drive the VW pretty slow cause its
only for weekend fun, not driving to work or groceries.

It seems the VW auto trans is pretty strong , I've never heard of an
outright failure .... leaks are easy to find cause there are only 4
places, 2 easy fixes plus the 2nd gear brake band seal then the more
expensive junction between the differential and the tranny ..... Oh,
the pan gasgets .... changed those 2 years ago ....

Lets keep our fingers crossed that all is Ok ...... Bill89westy23

On 3/7/09, Scott Daniel  - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> hi Bill,
> I don't know if it's totally safe to say yours is "OK" .........ok for now
> let's say.
> How many miles total on it ?
> The leaks that got fixed tend to make me think there's a lot of miles on
> yours......
> but sounds like you're doing great.
> So you got an air oil cooler put on it ?
> that'll be handy for when you do a subaru or other higher rpm engine
> conversion ~!
>
> I havn't had a problem with liquid oil cooles on auto transmissions
> failing.......
> but I keep pretty up on fresh coolant and use a water soluble oil additive
> as a rust in hibitor and water pump lubricant - been doing that for years on
> hundreds of cars and vanagons ..........works real well.
>   You could suffer the same fate with your engine oil cooler too.........
> if you're concerned about those failing ..........and I havn't ever had a
> problem with those either, but that also is a coolant and oil interface
> cooling device, that could allow coolant into the engine oil, which could be
> serious.  Point is........you can't change the coolant or maintain the
> cooling system'too much' in a vangaon.  In my opinion and experience, you
> could change the coolant once a month for 6 months, and not be wasiting
> money.
> Not more than about 75 % of the entire volume of coolant ever gets changed
> in a coolant change..........so there is always yuck left when changing from
> old coolant to knew.
>
> Mine auto trans is 'slippy' cold, especially if it's been really cold over
> night.  Semi-normal I think........though I bet the ATF is  a little yucky
> in the pan of my auto trans - I should get after that, drop that pan and
> clean things out really well in there.   ( same thing there btw......when
> changing the fluid you never get all of the old out .........like say what's
> in the torque converter ........if you're using a low tech drain and refil
> methoed that is.
> Vanagons rock !
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill Prats" <b.bill.p@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:44 PM
> Subject: Re: Auto Trans 1st Gear Noise
>
>
>> Thanks guys for your reports. I checked the fluids and all is fine
>> ..... I had 3 leaks fixed, the front seal where the cooler attaches,
>> the O-Ring on the round cover near the top of the trans and that thing
>> next to it , part of the 2nd Gear Brake Band. The mechanic had to drop
>> the trans valve body to replace that seal.  He did a great job for a
>> reasonable price.  I learned that the stock VW cooler can prove fatal
>> so he installed a separate cooler.
>>
>> I'm glad to hear that mine is Ok.    Bill89westy23
>>
>> On 3/5/09, Scott Daniel  - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>>> Yeah, mine too.
>>> Normal I think.
>>> If I swap out even two qts. of Royal Purple ATF I can feel my van go a
>>> little better - very good stuff....
>>> doesn't change the whine level of 1st gear though.
>>> scott
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Bill Prats" <b.bill.p@GMAIL.COM>
>>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>>> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 8:48 AM
>>> Subject: Auto Trans 1st Gear Noise
>>>
>>>
>>>> 1989 Westy Automatic.  Just wonder if you all notice that first gear
>>>> is kinda whinny..... yesterday I took all the cushions and carpet out
>>>> of my Westy before taking it in for service .... first gear was
>>>> definitely audible and after service for some reason it sounded louder
>>>> to me.  Tranny Dextron III is pretty and pink.
>>>>
>>>> Bill89Westy23
>>>
>>>
>
>